Marduk Show Canceled Due to Security Concerns After Nazi Accusations Directed Towards Band

Marduk are no stranger to Nazi accusations as their lyrics and visual representation are often culled from the atrocities of World War II and the Third Reich. Currently winding down their North American tour, the band's Oakland, Calif. show tonight (Feb. 18) was canceled due to security concerns from the venue after growing unrest from concerned citizens levying the accusations against Marduk.

The concert was scheduled to be held at the Oakland Metro Operahouse, who posted a statement on Facebook indicating they had found nothing tying the band's personal ideologies to the ones in question. The post reads, in full:

In the last week we have read interview after interview with Marduk spanning over the last 20 years and found no statements indicating the band are white supremacists, nationalists, or anti-immigrant. That being said, we don't want to subject our security staff, venue staff or the public to violence. Our staff is almost exclusively POC and / or LBGTQ and they have all expressed the desire to work, but as we are getting threats, we just can't risk it. So, in the interest of safety, and because the Oakland Police Department would have insisted anyway, we have canceled the Marduk performance on Feb 18.

The Oakland Police Department has decided in the interest of public safety that the Marduk show on Saturday, February 18 at the Oakland Metro Operahouse be cancelled. Refunds at point of purchase. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Attached to the post was correspondence with the local police department, which can be viewed below. Andy McNeil, Sergeant of Police working with the Special Events / ABAT Units explained, "Based on the riots that occurred in Berkeley in regards to Milo Yiannopoulos speaking at the University, it is reasonable to believe that there would be a threat to public safety if these groups showed up to protest Marduk."

A Facebook group, Anti-Fascist Action Bay Area, detailed Marduk's history of using events carried out by Nazis in World War II as well as actions of particular SS officers in their lyrics. The statement, which can be read in full below, begins, "Heads up: The Oakland Metro Operahouse has scheduled to host Marduk, a black metal band with known white supremacist ties from Sweden that profits off of glorifying Nazi imagery and songs about Nazi SS officers and anti-semitism, on Saturday, February 18th."

Marduk's tour, which also features Incantation and Svart Crown will wrap up on Feb. 20 in Seattle.

Back in 2012, we confirmed the longstanding rumor that Marduk's founder and guitarist Morgan 'Evil' Steinmeyer Håkansson was indeed sent a skull fragment from Mayhem's Dead, who infamously committed suicide with a shotgun. The legend said select members of the black metal scene were sent pieces of the skull and the axeman also told us he had two lead fragments from the shot as well as a piece of the late vocalist's brain.

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